As is well known, there is a growing trend to incorporate sophisticated electronics in order to improve and/or enhance diagnosis and therapy delivery to a patient. There are a variety of such devices, some of which may be implanted within a patient's body and others of which are deployed externally. In addition, the use of medical devices that communicate in a wireless fashion with other such devices is becoming more common and is advantageous in that the patient need not be tethered by wire connections.
Safety is a major concern in the design and use of medical devices that are either implanted or externally worn by a patient. To this end, comprehensive design criteria has been established to prevent the occurrence of unwanted electrical shocks that might potentially harm the patient. In contrast to the significant efforts expended to prevent such unintended electrical shock, current medical device designs do not provide a reliable means for minimizing the transmission of electromagnetic interference (EMI) produced by the circuitry within the medical device. Such interference can interfere with the operation of other medical devices which may be problematic if such devices have been implemented and deployed to sustain or monitor the medical condition of a patient on an acute or chronic basis.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a medical device that is configured to protect a patient from unwanted electrical shock and at the same time reduce the amount of transmitted electromagnetic interference. It would also be desirable to provide a medical device that transmits less EMI but is still characterized by high reliability, ease of manufacturing, and cost effectiveness.